Sir,

The  article titled “Fr. Denis Noronha: Celebrating 60 years of Priesthood” by Kenneth Shishir (SOM dated Feb.21) was informative and nostalgic since I am also from Bantwal. What a great inning  Fr. Noronha had in this long and fruitful journey of 60 years of serving his church, community and the nation.  All of us can learn from him a lesson of how to be happy. He was always cheerful and looking forward to help others.

Here I would like to mention about his significant contribution to Mysuru in the field of education. It was he who was responsible for popularising the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in Mysuru. I am sure that when Mysuru’s history of education is written his contribution will be given due recognition. In late 1980s, only Regional College of Education was providing CBSE at its Demonstration Multipurpose School (DMS).  It was Fr. Noronha who took a chance to start CBSE school at St. Joseph’s  Campus in Jayalakshmipuram.

CBSE was strange to many. Mysureans were familiar and comfortable with the State school syllabus. There was no demand for tougher syllabus the way we find today in Mysuru.

I am sure Fr. Noronha must have experienced a lot of resistance from his superiors to take such a risky adventure. When educational institutions around him were selecting Principals and teachers of their own community, Fr. Noronha went for the best and recruited the retired Principal from DMS, Dr. Satyanarayan to be the first Principal of his CBSE school. It was a great strategic move on his part to put the young school on solid foundation. Today St. Joseph’s is a leading school in Mysuru along with the likes of Acharya Vidya Kula (AVK).  

Wish Fr. Denis Noronha many more years to continue to serve the community.

– Bhamy V. Shenoy, Mysuru